Fever, dry cough, shortness of breath and loss of taste and smell are just some of the symptoms most commonly reported by people infected with COVID-19. However, in the last year, we understand that the highly infectious virus can manifest itself in unusual ways, presenting itself in some rare and frightening ways. According to a new report, some people with a zero history of mental illness who have been infected with the coronavirus are experiencing severe psychiatric symptoms. Keep reading – and to ensure your health and the health of others, don’t miss out on these Clear signs that you’ve had the coronavirus.
Dr. Hisam Goueli told the New York Times about a 42-year-old physical therapist and mother of four young children who visited his psychiatric hospital on Long Island during the summer without a history of psychiatric symptoms or any family history of mental illness. Sobbing, she told him that she “kept seeing her children, aged 2 to 10, being horribly murdered”, adding that she had a plan to kill them. “It was like she was watching a movie, like ‘Kill Bill’,” said Goueli, a psychiatrist. “It’s a horrible thing that this well-accomplished woman is here and she’s like, ‘I love my kids and I don’t know why I feel like I want to behead them,'” he said.
The only clue to her condition was that she had been infected with COVID-19 in the spring, showing only mild symptoms before psychiatric symptoms months later.
Dr. Goueli reveals that she was only the first of many patients he saw with similar symptoms.
“But then we saw a second case, a third case and a fourth case, and we thought, ‘There is something going on,'” he said. And, other doctors across the country have reported similar occurrences, including a 36-year-old woman who “believed her three children would be kidnapped and, to save them, tried to pass them through the drive-through window of a fast-food restaurant. “. a 30-year-old construction worker in New York City “who became so delirious that he imagined his cousin was going to kill him and, to protect himself, he tried to strangle him in bed,” and an elderly woman in Britain Brittany had hallucinations of monkeys and a lion “and became convinced that a family member had been replaced by an impostor”.
There is additional scientific data to support the link between the two, including a British study of neurological or psychiatric complications in 153 patients hospitalized with the virus, reporting 10 people who had “recent onset psychosis” and another discovery 10 patients in a Spanish hospital suffering from psychological symptoms induced by COVID.
Experts believe that this type of neurological manifestation of the virus may be due to the body’s immune response and subsequent inflammation caused by the virus.
“Some of the neurotoxins that are reactions to immune activation can go to the brain, through the blood-brain barrier, and can induce that damage,” Dr. Vilma Gabbay, co-director of the Psychiatric Research Institute at Montefiore Einstein in the Bronx told the NYT.
Interestingly, most of these patients did not experience a serious initial infection. Dr. Goueli claims that his patients who experienced these types of psychological problems had no breathing problems. However, they did report subtle neurological symptoms, including tingling in the hands, dizziness, headaches or decreased smell.
However, two weeks to several months later, he said that they “developed this profound psychosis, which is really dangerous and scary for everyone around them”.
In addition, they tend to be younger than those who fall into the high-risk category, in their 30s, 40s and 50s. “It is very rare for you to develop this type of psychosis in this age group,” he said.
As for the repercussions, some of the people who develop this COVID-related psychosis need weeks of hospitalization and many doctors find it difficult to treat them. While some are discharged within a week, others remain in the hospital for months.
For example, the physical therapist with plans to murder his children “was getting worse” by the day. “We probably tried eight different drugs,” including antidepressants, antipsychotics and lithium. “She was so sick that we were considering electroconvulsive therapy because nothing was working.” After four weeks, they found a drug that worked, risperidone, and went home “95 percent perfect”.
“We don’t know what the natural course of this is,” said Goueli. “Does it eventually go away? Do people get better? How long does it usually take? And are you more likely to have other psychiatric problems as a result? There are so many unanswered questions.”
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As for you, follow Dr. Anthony Fauci’s–the country’s leading infectious disease specialist –fundamentals and help end this wave, neither you nor anyone else has to experience this torture – use a face mask, social distance, avoid large crowds, do not go home with people you are not sheltering (especially in bars), practice good hand hygiene, be vaccinated when it is available to you and to protect your life and the lives of others, don’t visit any of these 35 places you’re most likely to reach COVID.